Kurt Helin

Is there a better way to start your week than that cup of coffee and videos of Andre Iguodala, Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook making posters? No, of course there isn’t. We’ll, unless you’ve got a nice bagel to go with it. Either way, enjoy.

Sunday night the Blazers are getting healthy at the expense of the Los Angeles Clippers, which is a good team to get healthy against. It will snap a six-game losing streak that has seen some ugly play out a Blazers team many thought would rebound this season. There are injury issues in Portland — Gregg…

The New York Knicks could use some more scoring and defensive presence in the paint — Ronny Turiaf has been in and out of the lineup with injuries, and Timofey Mozgov is still learning how to do more than just pick up fouls in the NBA. Well, there is Eddy Curry…. He is healthy enough…

Anthony Tolliver — the guy better known as “why are they playing him and not Kevin Love more?” — will be out for “a while” with a sprained right knee, the team announced. He will get another evaluation on Monday that may give us a better timeline for his return. He sprained it Friday night…

It comes down to this: owner George Shinn is out of money he will spend to run the New Orleans Hornets and he can’t find a buyer. The league is going to step in and step in soon — both ESPN and Sports Illustrated are reporting the league could take over operations of the team…

Andre Iguodala is prepared for it. Now it appears to be happening. Slowly. The Ohio Morning Journal reports that the Sixers are shopping the wingman around. That would not be a shock to anyone, but the Sixers have been publically mum on the idea (or said it’s not happening), especially as they have won three…

Rajon Rondo sat out today against the New Jersey Nets, his hamstring still sore and the team wanting to play it safe. Why safe? Because Rondo is having a historic season. So far, Rondo is averaging 14.1 assists and 11.4 points per game, orchestrating a more balanced Celtics attack. In a great note at the…

We told you yesterday that the sale of the New Orleans Hornets fell through — in part possibly because of the impending lockout — which has left the NBA with the unenviable task of taking over running the team until a new owner can be found. The takeover is apparently going to happen soon —…

After the Heat were done wiping the floor with the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night, some things were said. Daniel Gibson used to be tight with LeBron James but he said some things afterwards that made it sound like they wouldn’t be sharing any text messages about the latest episode of Glee, or whatever it is…

Acie Law was a lottery pick, No. 11 overall, a smart and crafty player coming out of Texas A&M that seemed well suited to running an NBA team from the point. Not the most explosive guy, but he showed an ability to get to the rim and then kick out to open teammates. It hasn’t…

Andre Iguodala is one of the league’s better finishers on the break. With that in mind, note to Gerald Wallace — if you’re going to foul him to prevent the dunk, wrap him up early. Because if you just kind of push Iguodala once he’s in the air you’re going to end up on a…

UPDATE 10:00 pm: Iverson on his twitter account denies these rumors, saying he is enjoying the experience and building good chemistry with his teammates. What else is he going to say? You can choose to believe whatever you wish here, the “answer” will come with his actions soon enough. 9:30 pm: What was the under/over…

Christian Lambert is one happy boy tonight. Lambert for his eighth birthday gift didn’t want the Lego Star Wars for Wii (which is crazy, I want that) — he wanted to go see the Miami Heat play. So his parents splurged and bought him tickets to go see the Heat take on the Orlando Magic…

Antoine Walker’s NBA comeback via the D-League — at least that’s the plan, anyway — has become a reality as he has cleared the league’s background check. That means he will go on waivers and be picked up by the 0-4 Idaho Stampede in the next 72 hours, as reported by Scott Schroeder at FanHouse.…

Just like the invading aliens in H.G. Wells “War of the Worlds,” nothing has been able to stop the Orlando Magic — except a flu bug. Tonight, while the Magic are in Milwaukee taking on the Bucks, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, JJ Redick and Mickael Pietrus will all be back in Orlando trying to recover…

The housing market is still slumping. If you’re going to sell your home in this market, you’re going to have to have some kind of incentive. Like Super Bowl tickets. Buy Shawn Marion’s former home in Florida and that is just what you get, according to FanHouse. Marion is offering four club-level Super Bowl tickets…

A chorus of people — led by Charles Barkley — questioned what looked like some friendly banter between the LeBron James and the Cavaliers bench Thursday night. For the most part, people have questioned how the Cavs could joke around with the guy kicking their, um, behind. But apparently it wasn’t that friendly. As Daniel…

If you owned an NBA team, wouldn’t you want to be like Mark Cuban? Injecting yourself in the personnel debates, working out in the facilities, flying with the team, taking shots on the court before games. He is a fan/owner. He’s having fun, but he is also very smart and self-aware. And that comes through…

Evan Turner is still adjusting, still trying to find his way. Especially since the return of Andre Iguodala. For the last dozen games he was getting the chance to figure it all out as part of the starting lineup for Philadelphia, but no more. Tonight he comes off the bench and Jodie Meeks or Andres…

Stephen Jackson plays with emotion, that is one of the reasons he is the Charlotte Bobcats leading scorer. But those emotions have gotten the better of him a few times too. Like last Saturday, when he got ejected for arguing a call. Which led to a suspension. Jackson is sorry — and he wrote and…

Pau Gasol missed 17 games last season because one or another of his hamstrings was hurt. This season, Gasol knew he would have to play more minutes and take on more of the load in the paint until Andrew Bynum returned (then Theo Ratliff went down, making things worse). What has returned more quickly than…

Reports came out yesterday — ones even briefly echoed on this blog — that a number of Middle Eastern investors were in talks to buy the Detroit Pistons. But that is not the case, the NBA told Tom Ziller of SBNation. The league called it a miscommunication between NBA commissioner David Stern and a foreign…

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m a Celtic and I plan on being that for a long time, as long as I’m coaching.” —Celtics coach Doc Rivers on WEEI radio in Boston, talking about the rumors Pat Riley will come after him to coach the Miami Heat next year. He again said he expects Erik…

When the Lakers are struggling — for example, losing four in a row like they have now — Phil Jackson usually tries to lighten the mood at his press conferences. Joking, funny Phil Jackson, who sounds a lot like regular Phil Jackson so unless you’re around him a lot it can be hard to tell.…

There was a lot of anger in Cleveland last night, a lot of “a—hole” chants and a handful of people tossed from the building. It reminded the Suns Josh Childress of Greece (where he played the last two seasons). Well, not really, the Cavaliers fans were not angry enough and did not throw explosives or…